Ease This Pain
by ArtImitatesSex
Summary: Hermione gets a mysterious message. Follow up of "The Light and Sound." Read and Review please 33


Ease This Pain

It was cold inside the dungeons today. On the way to his Potions classroom, fifteen-year-old Draco Malfoy silently wished he were outside. Where the sun could hit his pale face and warm him. Beside him was his lapdog, Pansy. Goyle and Crabbe followed behind him, mindlessly babbling about something that was of no interest to him.

A few feet ahead of him were the Wonder Trio. Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and the recent bane of his existence, Hermione Granger. It wasn't because he hated her for being a Mudblood, or for being best friends with Potter. It was for a much different, very new reason.

Draco repositioned his book bag on his shoulder. His tie pressed up against his next. His shirt and vest hugged his torso without a wrinkle to speak of. His robe flowed like a cap behind him; it protected him from the chill of the dungeons.

He could hear Hermione's piercing laughter echo through the dank staircase. He caught himself smiling a bit, but soon turned it away. He wanted to be the one to make her laugh like her friends did. All he ever got from her was a scowl. Though he didn't mention it to anyone, that hurt him more than her would like.

Seconds later, Draco found himself standing behind her, waiting for the door to Potions to be opened. He looked over at Pansy to see her distracted for the moment. He used this time to look back at Hermione, who was standing barely a foot in front of him. He tensely moved forward and smelled her hair. It lasted for a second, but he caught the scents of vanilla and sandalwood. It made him smile as he thought of her sitting in her common room making her own incantations.

As he smiled to himself with these thoughts flowing through his mind, he caught the eye of Ron Weasley. He was looking at Draco, obviously seeing what he had just done.

"What are you looking at, Weasel?" Draco said menacingly. Ron didn't even flinch at the threatening tone of Draco's voice. They were all used to it.

"Keep your distance, Malfoy." Ron said to him, his eyes burrowing holes into Draco's skin. Hermione turned around to see what the commotion was all about and she found herself face to face with Draco Malfoy.

Draco took a deep intake of breath when he found her standing right in front of him. She was so close, he could touch her. However, not without at least a dozen 'Avada Kadavra' flying his way.

"What are you looking at, Granger?" Draco asked, playing the part of proud Slytherin again. When in reality, he wanted to reach out and move the stray strand of hair that lay in her face. Just at the moment, Snape arrived and opened the dungeon door and everyone flooded into the classroom. Hermione turned away from Draco to find her seat.

Draco sat at his normal seat, towards the front, directly across from Hermione, who sat with Harry. Thankfully, Pansy didn't sit next to him today, it was Crabbe. Whom Draco would prefer any day. He glanced at Hermione once more, feeling helpless.

Hermione was working on her essay about 'Battle Ready Potions' when she saw the writing on her page start to disappear and a message start to rise onto the page. The writing was messy and it was obviously written very quickly. Hermione looked at Harry quickly, to make sure he wasn't looking. Thankfully, he was concentrating on his essay, so Hermione turned back to the message.

_"Meet me in the owlery, tonight. At 9:30. Please. I can't keep this up."_

And as soon as she read the message, it was gone. Hermione, confused as to who sent the message looked around the room. She saw Sheamus, Neville, Parvati, Padma, Harry, Ron, Justin, Draco, Crabbe, Pansy and Goyle. All of them seemed to be concentrating on their work and she didn't expect any of them to write a message like that. She figured she would just have to go meet this person, to find out who it was.

She spent the rest of Potions extremely distracted, but still managed to finish her essay.

At nine o'clock, Hermione stood outside the door to the owlery. She didn't see anyone coming, so she stepped inside. She looked at all the sleeping owls around the room, and spotted Hedwig. She called him over and he perched himself on her arm. She petted him for a few moments until she heard a voice. She recognized it immediately and turned slowly to see Draco standing by the door. Hedwig flew back up to his spot and left Hermione to stare dumbly at Draco.

Draco stood in his normal clothes, leaving his robes in his dorm. He was wearing a tight black sweater and black slacks. He wore shinny leather shoes that looked like they cost a fortune. His platinum locks fell over his forehead.

"You? You sent me that message?" Hermione asked in disbelief. Draco let his eyes meet hers as he slowly nodded. He had never been so nervous in his entire life. He shoved his hands in his pockets, to try and hide from her the fact that he was trembling.

"What can't you keep up?" Hermione asked.

"What?" Draco asked.

"In that message, you said that you couldn't keep this up. What is it?" Hermione asked. She stood before him, thought not too close, her hands on her hips. She wore her uniform skirt and shirt. Her shirt was unbuttoned on the top and wasn't tucked in. Her tie was loose around her neck. Draco smiled a bit, mostly to hide his nervousness.

Seconds seemed to pass by without incident, Draco just stared at Hermione. She was waiting for him to do something, say anything. Draco brought a hand out of his pockets to run it nervously through his hair. At that moment, Hermione could see him shaking. Her breath caught in her throat. She took a step closer to him; she was practically face to face with him.

"Draco?" Hermione asked, though Draco was still coming up with something to say.

"What can't you keep up?" Hermione said. She knew she was wrong for still being here. In the back of her head, she still thought this was a cruel trick and Draco would start laughing in her face any minute now. But he didn't. He looked frightened, nervous and normal. Like he was a regular guy. However, Hermione still kept her walls up, in case of a surprise.

"Be-Being like this…" Draco finally said quietly. His walls shattered and he let Hermione see who he really was. He wasn't Malfoy…he was just Draco. A regular fifteen-year-old guy.

Draco noticed that confused look that washed over Hermione's face, as she tried to understand what he had said. Draco took a deep breath and took the plunge.

All in one swift motion, he let his hand slide behind her neck and bring her lips to meet his. Hermione was surprised at how soft and gentle his lips were. She was so surprised at first that she couldn't move.

Draco felt so euphoric. He congratulated himself in his head to have finally gotten the courage to kiss Hermione. It was better than he thought it was going to be. He felt her start to kiss him back, but he chose that moment to pull away. He looked down at her flushed face, a stray strand of curly hair sitting in front of her face. He reached out a shaking hand and pushed it behind her ear.

Hermione stood in front of him, her stomach in knots. She tried to come up with an explanation in his head, but she couldn't form thoughts. Draco smiled slightly at her and then walked away.

Hermione watched him walk away, out of the owlery. The echoes of his footsteps bouncing in-between him and his new admirer, Hermione.

The End

Shannon Cali


End file.
